i think, i will go through with that references that sir jack referred to...hope in other way, i can understand the lecture somewhat those gave me confusion. however, the presentation is really good on the topic referring to.

the high level lenguages do have varying degrees of overhead. however. there is no guarnatee that a program designed in high level will get more machine instructions than a code developed in assembler, except for very simple programs.

Jack, don't you think the industry needs to develop a benchmark tool, so that NON-RT solutions can be compared to standard (to be developed) RT ones so designers can strech their artistic/intuitive achievements? That would make the RTOS part of a standard metric.

RTOS developers publish code execution time guarantees based upon scheduling algorithm they employ? What characteristics are made available for those who intend to use the RTOS, from which to evaluate the worth of adopting it?

Most RTOSes are very fast; if the diff in speed between two RTOSes is a concern then I think one should be looking at a better CPU. The differentiators are the features - and you need to know which ones you need - pricing, royalty models and support. The vendors are pretty good at advertising their feature sets, and not so good at advertising costs and support. I've worked with a lot, and have found them generally very, very good. The more complex add-ons you buy - like TCP/IP - the higher the odds you'll find problems.

RTOS developers publish code execution time guarantees based upon scheduling algorithm they employ? What characteristics are made available for those who intend to use the RTOS, from which to evaluate the worth of adopting it?

SPEAKING OF REALIABILITY ADA IS ONE OF THE FEW (IF NOT THE ONLY ONE) LANGUAGES THAT HAVE REAL-TIME INSTRUCTINS TO DEAL WITH CONCURRENCY. FOR THOSE WHO ARE NOT FAMILIAR WITH THE CREATION OF ADA IT STARTED BY THE DEPT OF DEFENSE THAT MADE THE FIRST EFFORT TO ORGANIZE THE TOO MANY OPTIONS IN THE MARKET. THERE IS A GROUP IN THE ADA COMMUNITY FOR EXAMPLE THT IS DEVELOPING CODE WITH THE LEGO MINDSTORM BORADS.

jack21: How far would you go before using an RTOS? If you, e.g. partition your system sufficiently far, you might be able to pull off some amazing things with very simple architecture for the single MCU. I am amazed at what Chuck Moore's most recent generation of chips does...

Tough question! An RTOS will bring added complexity. But if your system needs to manage multiple independent things, consider one. For instance, if it has to handle buttons, display, comm, and whatnot non-RTOS code quickly gets ugly.

How can one get an idea of speed as a performance objective vs the compiler employed?

You can demand it from the vendor, but few know. All one can do is run tests for critical sections of code. I think it's criminial they don't profile their stuff, but after years of nagging them have had no luck.

jack21: How far would you go before using an RTOS? If you, e.g. partition your system sufficiently far, you might be able to pull off some amazing things with very simple architecture for the single MCU. I am amazed at what Chuck Moore's most recent generation of chips does...

JACK, IN MY VIEW, THE BEST ASPECT OF YOUR PRESENTATION, IS THAT IT HAPPENED. I REFER TO THE FACT THT IT SHOW THAT COMPANIES ARE AWAKENING TO A NEW GENERATION OF EMBEDDED SYSTEMS FOR MORE EFFICIENT TECHNOLOGICAL DEVELOPMENT. AFTER ALL, IT'S ALL ABOUT DESIGN EFFICIENCY IN A FAST PACED AND MORE COMPLICATED WORLD.

one thing that has been bugging me: to RTOS or not to RTOS ... whether 'tis better for my peace of mind if I know the slings and arrows of my own doing or, by reusing prebuilt stuff, suffer

I think it's a bad idea to reinvent the wheel. Fun, you betcha. But it's tough to get an RTOS right. Most of the homemade ones I see don't have much in the way of queues, mailboxes and the like, so the reentrancy issues for the application become huge.

I RECOMMEND THE NEW BOOK (2012) BY DOUG COMER FROM PURDUE. HIS NEW BOOK ON OS DESIGN WORKES FROM THE VERY SIMPLE OS ROUTINES TO THE MORE INTRICATE ONES. AND ALL THE CODE IN THE BOOK CAN RUN ON XINU. AS A MATTER OF FACT HE TEACHES HOW TO COMPLETE THE XINU BASIC KERNEL.

Do you think Android is stable enough to meet the reliability demands of embedded systems and devices?

For some systems it's fine. For high-rel or high-security it's not. Linux is rated at security level EAL4+, the same as Windows; EAL4 means it's secure if no one tries to break in. I don't think Android has been rated yet.

YOU KNOW, JACK, I'VE BEEN TEACHING IN ENGINEERING TECHNOLOGY PROGRAMS FOR THE LAST 4.5 YEARS, AND I NEVER HEARD OF ANYONE TEACHING ABOUT "IMPEDANCE MATCH." ISN'T THAT CRAZY, WHAT IS HAPPENING IN EDUCATION?

Doesn't matter if they are properly set up. The issue with probes is rise time. You can make a very fast probe with 3' of RG-58U, a short 1K resistor on the end, very tight braid-to-board line. And, you must set your scope for 50 ohm impedance. This is a divide by 21 probe, but it is excellent.

YES, RIM BOUGHT UP QNX SOFTWARE SYSTEMS IN THE SUMMER OF 2010 SO THEY CAN KEEP THE CARS AND DON'T LOOSE THE EDGE WITH THE USE OF SMART DEVICES IN THE AUTO INDUSTRY, WHICH THEY ALREADY HAVE SIGNIFICAN PRESENCE.

The "Cool Tools" page on Jack's website - http://www.ganssle.com/tools.htm - is really, really impressive. A quick glance at that page and I already found a good replacement for HyperTerminal. HyperTerm is no longer supported by MSFT and does not work on Win 7.

From a learning perspective, can you recommend a means for a newbie to detect when some of these problems you mention have occurred? It isn't likely trace function in an in-circuit emulator will be in use or anything equipment that is expensive will be used in a learning environment.

Great advice. I don't do a lot of real time development but your impedance matching advice is overlooked in many technologies. I also discovered that fluid flow has flow into the male and out the female fittings so the electrical signals also need to follow this pattern.

Question: Can you give some good references for learning more about creating "C" implementations of complex computation, such as sin, cos, hyp tan, exp, etc.? I've heard about CORDIC, but would love to target some good analysis, rather than read a bunch of "teaser" articles/books. Thanks! Interesting talk!

Interesting thing is that folks who nowadays work with microelectronics they had to go back to school (real engineering) to learn microwave engineering. In the past and still today in engineering/techn ical schools, students want to skip all that "nightmare"

Some of you may call me crazy, but the way technical eduction is becoming watered down in the basic aspects of engineering siuch as absence of electromagnatism and measurement theory education, the reliability of electronic systems will be greatly challenged.

i hear what u all are saying. Most people are having no probs and audio is fine. If you really can't hear or get the PPTs, this show will be available as an archive later today (if it's not working at work, try it at home tonight).

A: put a resistor around 68 ohm to input th LM 7805. Conect Emiter of a PNP transistor to left side the resistor, then Bese to right side of resistor or regulator input. And colector to output of regulator. Pass around 100 mA throuth the resistor causes 0.7 v drop the on resistor and also emitter- base of trsnsistro. Result, any current pulling from regulator will be pass from transistor ont regulator. Up to 5 A you an pull regulated 5 v from this circuit.

The speed kills slides reminds me of "real time" troubleshooting challenges. Static testing with a logic probe may not see the problem, scope may look "OK". I found that looking through the analog world with a Huntron Trackerf worked for real world speed problems with wounded chips and damaged terminators.

The streaming audio player will appear on this web page when the show starts at 2pm eastern today. Note however that some companies block live audio streams. If when the show starts you don't hear any audio, try refreshing your browser.

@simona - The chat will appear right here as you've written. The radio player will open up on this page at the set time for the show. In advance of the show you can download Today's Slide Deck to follow along with the lecturer. We look forward to chatting with you right here!

A few weeks ago, Ford Motor Co. quietly announced that it was rolling out a new wrinkle to the powerful safety feature called stability control, adding even more lifesaving potential to a technology that has already been very successful.

It won't be too much longer and hardware design, as we used to know it, will be remembered alongside the slide rule and the Karnaugh map. You will need to move beyond those familiar bits and bytes into the new world of software centric design.

People who want to take advantage of solar energy in their homes no longer need to install a bolt-on solar-panel system atop their houses -- they can integrate solar-energy-harvesting shingles directing into an existing or new roof instead.

Focus on Fundamentals consists of 45-minute on-line classes that cover a host of technologies. You learn without leaving the comfort of your desk. All classes are taught by subject-matter experts and all are archived. So if you can't attend live, attend at your convenience.